Worth the Risk
by RosemaryBagels
Summary: Omegaverse AU. Francis is a beta with a problem. Not only does he have a teeny tiny crush on his boss at work, but his boss is an alpha. Even though alpha/beta relationships are illegal, Francis can't shake the feeling that the strange British man might like him too... UKFr main but also containing AmeCan/CanAme, Spamano, AusPruHun and hints of GerIta, Rochu and Giripan
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello! I've got a beautiful new story to be read. If you already get the gist of Omegaverse then you can skip past the bold. If not, here is a brief overview.**

**In the modern day omegaverse, social hierarchy is broken up into three groups: alphas, betas and omegas. The alphas are the top of the social ladder, the main word to describe them is dominant. They are corporate business men, wealthy lawyers, police officers, and are looked upon with respect. Betas are neutral in the dominant/submissive balance and make up the majority of the workforce with desk jobs and the like. Omegas are the third and are classified as submissive. Often being shy or timid, they are often outspoken and can be mistreated or abused with little legal ramifications. Not that they can't get jobs, like teaching, or be part of society, but alphas have a bad habit of walking over them. There are a few other differences when it comes to intercourse during an omega's heat, but we'll get to that when it actually happens in the story.**

**Within this world, the socially acceptable norm is for an alpha to mate with an omega, and for betas to mate with other betas. In this particular fic, it is illegal to stray outside this norm. That being said, this fic will include AlphaxBeta, BetaxOmega, OmegaxOmega, AlphaxBetaxOmega, and possibly AlphaxAlpha if I can find a way to fit the RoChu in.**

**If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or leave a it in a review.**

.

"Yeah, but what if it wasn't?" The albino's voice drifted over the balcony, but not quite drifting to the people in the pool below.

"What are you saying?" His deep brown hair was cut short, but not as short as it had been. His green eyes were piercing over the edges of his wine glass and across the small glass table separating the two.

"What if there weren't rules. If love was free and anyone could love anyone." The chairs were crappy and uncomfortable but both were too drawn into conversation to really care.

"There are reasons." This was always the answer. The problem was a linear equation and could only end with one right answer.

"You still like him." The Spaniard had no reply to that. The equation he was supposed to believe didn't quite seem to work, because it didn't cover all the variables. Still, the law was the law, and the two of them weren't going to break it. This one at least.

"I wish…" The Prussian man froze, the beer in his hand halfway to his mouth. Two words further into the repeated conversation they'd always had.

"Wish what?" he asked, after a moment. The Spaniard looked down at his drink, as if trying to push away some piece of long forgotten pride.

"I wish there was some other way. Even if I couldn't love him and hold him… I wish I could still provide for him, still protect him, and still be there to wipe the tears from his eyes when the nightmares became too much." The Prussian sighed, taking another sip of beer and standing to walk to the edge of the balcony, looking over the edge into the lit pool below.

"Don't we all?" The Spaniard gave a soft chuckle without much humour, moving in turn to stand behind his friend.

"Do you ever think you'll tell them?"

"What?"

"The happy couple. Do you ever think you'll tell them you envy them? That you want to be ever as much a part of what they have as they are?" The albino's free hand gripped the railing tighter, but his voice gave no emotions away.

"I wish I could." The Spaniard cocked his head, and looked at his long time friend.

"Truthfully, it is not you I am worried about, mi amigo."

"Yeah," the other man muttered.

"Do you think, if the right man came along, that He might break the rules?"

"Of that I have no doubt. But finding a man, in this kind of world? Fat chance."

"Still, I wish him happiness."

"Nah, I'm still in the hoping he doesn't die phase."

"That would also be good," the Spaniard said, with a sad smile on his face. "Life really isn't easy is it?"

"For them?" the albino gestured of the assembled group of young partygoers in various styles of bathing suit, "yes. For us?" he turned so he was focussed on the eyes of his companion. "Never."

.

**A/N: Yes it's short, but it is just a prologue, the chapters will be longer. I am attempting to make this less of an angstfest than some of my other works, so yeah. Let's see how this goes.**

**Unfortunately, this story will not have an updating schedule, due to the fact that my other story, The Demon Who Lives Upstairs, is my current priority. I will try to have the next chapter done quickly.**

**Byeeeee!~**


	2. Meet Francis

**Warnings for this story: (because the prologues opening was way to long)**

**This story contains Yaoi. And will contain BoyxBoy smut. Eventually. You have been warned.**

**There will no doubt be copious amounts of swearing, mentions of past child abuse, and Ivan being Ivan.**

**.**

_**Dragonna ... You'll be surprised.**_

**.**

"I suppose you've all heard about what happened to the Engineering Branch Director."

Francis could have rolled his eyes, as the head of the Board of Directors addressed the entire body of employees in the American branch of Ahren Tec. He doubted there was a single person in the room who hadn't heard what happened to Matthias. After all, an alpha and omega meeting on a not-so-secret-anymore nude beach and then eloping to Scandinavia was one of those stories that spread around like wildfire.

Needless to say that Mathias Kohler, the alpha who'd just had a shotgun wedding, no longer had a job.

"The scandal that he was involved in was downplayed as much a possible, but it still remains true that this is the third incident we've had within the last two years."

Again, Francis was forced to withhold the urge to laugh. Yeah, the incident was downplayed, if revealing several incriminating photos on the evening news counted as playing it down. And who was he kidding - with the previous Advertising Branch Director caught cheating on his fiancé with several hookers three months previously, and a former Board member found guilty of smuggling and embezzlement the year before, it was no wonder that the company had been gaining a bad reputation.

Fact of the matter was, someone needed to fill in the spot of Engineering Branch Director, and Francis had a bet going with several other co-workers that whoever the man was that was filling the position; he was going to be some old geezer from Russia, where the head offices were, who wasn't going to cause any more scandals to be not-so-downplayed. Or, as his good friend Gilbert would have said: A boring old fart.

"Due to these alarming number of incidents, the higher ups have chosen someone from out of country that they feel will best fit the position."

Francis could feel a small smile of triumph spread over his face. A week of free lattés for him.

"The man is Arthur Kirkland, a twenty six year old alpha, who is flying in from his previous residence in London tomorrow. He will take up his position in approximately four business days. Thank you for your time."

Well. That was new. The woman he was betting with, a lovely beta named Bella from the accounting branch, was assuming that they would be promoting someone from within the company. He wasn't sure where they stood on that now.

But more importantly they were calling in an alpha from England. Who was young. And probably hot. Francis could feel his heartbeat pick up just a bit at the though of having a sexy young alpha wandering the halls of his department, coming over to Francis to talk and maybe have drinks and—

Francis jerked himself from his thoughts and looked around to see if anyone had noticed his daydream, but all the men and women around him, dressed in sharp suits and pristine skirts, were focussed on filing out of the conference room and with the work ahead of them, not the man staring off into space.

Francis swallowed hard and then set off for his cubicle, where his plan was to play solitaire until Kiku could find him something useful to do.

.

As it turns out, being the secretary for one of the engineers was… not actually a particularly difficult job. Some of the secretaries had to bend over backwards to avoid having bad press about the company, and had their work cut out maintaining complicated schedules for the alphas that simply couldn't be bothered to do work for themselves.

Kiku Honda was not such an individual. He was one of the few Beta engineers within the company, due mainly to the fact that the one of the previous branch directors had an extreme prejudice and assumed that only alphas could come up with creative ideas.

Which was stupid because Kiku was by far the most brilliant engineer on the task force, and it wasn't like the engineers were doing anything really important anyways. The only thing to discuss was how to slowly release micro updates to make the earlier technology seem totally worthless.

Kiku could manage his own affairs.

Three coffee cups, seventeen solitaire games, and eight victories later, Francis found the office closing up, and that it was time for him to head home.

The subway was silent as Francis made his way home. The rhythmic swinging of his bag and the clacking of the train over the tracks did little to distract him from the lack of conversation permeating through the subway.

He made it to his house, a small but nice building in an out of the way suburb, and unlocked the door, only to be greeted with more silence.

There was the letter he'd left on the kitchen table when he'd walked out that day. There was the empty milk carton by the sink, exactly where he'd put it. Everything was exactly the way he left it, but it felt empty.

Francis shook himself to keep from falling into his own thoughts and went to open the fridge to see what he could make for dinner.

He supposed it was natural that his house felt empty. After all, at his age pretty much all alphas and omegas were mated by now, and if the betas weren't they had someone in mind.

And here was Francis with no one in his life. It wasn't like he hadn't had girlfriends - he had been well known for it in high school - but none of them had stuck.

Sure he'd liked several of the girls he'd spent time with, but they weren't what he was looking for. None of it was what he was looking for.

Francis decided he wanted something simple for dinner, so he ended up on a short walk to the pantry where he kept all of his pasta, and the horrid rarely-used jars of tomato sauce before heading back to the kitchen and grabbing a pot to start the water boiling.

His mother had always found it weird that Francis wanted to cook at a young age, but hadn't stopped him when he wanted to get into the gourmet stuff. He supposed he had only got so into it because it took him forever to grasp that alphas, betas and omegas were actually different things. For the longest time, he thought they were only titles, like Mr. or Mrs. And if he hadn't spent a few years reading into his subconscious trying to find the reason for the mix up, he probably would be leading a happy life, mated and slowly but surely planning for a child with some sweet woman he'd met through his first job or possibly in college.

Instead well… it wasn't like he hated his life.

Francis supposed that his troubles started in sex-ed class. They'd separated the genders and the types, and were supposed to cycle through all six groups, where two would get class with the two teachers and the others would have time in the library and then switch out.

Only Francis' group never got a turn in the classroom. They were told that for their group there really wasn't much to tell, and would it be tackled in a few years. And Francis, who'd spent his whole life being told that passion was everything and sex was one of the most passionate acts known to man, decided that wasn't good enough.

After a short fight with his father that was ended when the alpha left for the bar, and several elaborate plans to steal the neighbour's wifi password - which he succeeded at, thank you very much - he was all set.

He started with the basics: guy on girl, read some of those educational websites, and when that didn't tell him much found a bit of porn. Which still wasn't exactly what he wanted to know, so he kept on poking around, until he discovered the alpha and omega mating rituals.

And about heats.

It was the most arousing thing he had ever come across.

It wasn't even the thought of an omega being trapped in an almost perpetual state of arousal for several days, or the knotting, where the alphas penis would swell inside of the omega because of the slick they produced, leaving the two unable to part. In fact, he didn't find anything remotely arousing until he imagined what it would be like for the omega.

And it wasn't the sex that got to him; it was all the other stuff that went with it. There would be an alpha who would be strong, dominating but not oppressive, who would look after all his needs, and he could just let go and ride out the waves of pleasure as the man bred him, and then maybe have a few small kids belonging to both of them running around in a yard with a white picket fence.

After that, he started finding the scents of the alphas in his class really attractive.

He was only twelve though, and getting a boyfriend didn't seem like the best thing to do right then, because most of the alphas were more interested in football, and he had math class and an English paper due, so he just filed this piece of information about his sexuality away, to be examined later.

Which is why it took him about two years to realise how entirely fucked he was.

Alphas mated omegas, and betas mated betas.

Francis hadn't been attracted to anyone who wasn't an alpha in over two years.

And he was beta.

.

**A/N: Why did this chapter take so long? Well... I live in Canada right? Well... Currently I'm in Venice. Nuf said. I'd love to say that the next chapter won't take so long, but I won't be back home for another four weeks so...**

**I'll do what I can, but if you don't hear from me that's why.**

**On a completely different note, I can confirm that there will be RoChu in this story, as well as brief mentions of GerIta. If anyone has someone they particularly want to see Kiku with, who isn't involved in any other various parings, I can do that.**

**Hope to be here again sooner rather than later:**

**~RosemaryBagels**


	3. Meet the Bad Touch Trio

**A/N: Thank you guest reviewer for both giving me feedback, and giving up on me :(**

**When I start a story, I make a commitment to finishing that story, no matter how long it takes, even if I have to give it a shitty ending.**

**...**

**And now please enjoy this huge pile of exposition.**

**.**

"So, lemme get this straight. Your head honcho boss is worried about more alphas eloping, so he's decided to bring in some other alpha from England? Who's young? And potentially hot?" Gilbert said, wavinghis half full beer bottle nonchalantly. Francis ducked his head into his wine. Why did his friends know him so well?

"I didn't say potentially hot," he muttered, hoping they would ignore the blush on his cheeks.

"You were thinking it, mi amigo. That is all we need to know." Antonio put a comforting hand on Francis' shoulder, before taking a longer swig of wine.

"You even know who he is yet?"

"Arthur Kirkland. British. Twenty six. That's all the information we were given." Gilbert paused to mull over the details.

"You have the greatest memory for the weirdest stuff." Antonio commented.

"Is that what you got from that statement?" Gilbert said with a laugh. Antonio shrugged.

"Well what did you get?" Francis turned his gaze to Gilbert. The albino got a curious look on his face before saying:

"Well, he is only two years younger than you."

"Oh shove off," Francis said, giving his friend a playful push. "It's not like any theoretical attraction would go anywhere real. And besides, he's probably mated." Francis tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice on the last bit. By the look his friends shared, he was only moderately successful.

"Did they not say?" Antonio cocked his head to the side.

"Not a word." Francis shrugged.

"Well, if you get a chance, I think you should drag him into a janitors closet and make out with him."

"Gilbert!" Antonio yelled, but Francis just sighed. He was, by now, far beyond used to his friends' antics, and though they joked about it quite a bit, he knew that those two were the only people out there who understood his pain.

"So, how's Lovino?" he asked, just for a change of conversation. Antonio sighed and slumped back into his chair.

"The same. Better. Worse. I can't really tell." Gilbert put his beer down on the table.

"Luddy cornered him, asking for his permission to propose to Feli next Christmas."

"Ludwig asked for permission? I mean good for him for finally tying the knot; they've been dating for what, three years? But asking Lovino for permission sounds a bit … suicidal." Francis didn't elaborate. They all knew how Lovino felt about Ludwig and Feliciano being a couple.

"He thought Lovi deserved the heads up," Antonio commented dryly.

"Apparently he didn't take the news very well." Gilbert finished.

"Who would?" Francis muttered.

They sat in silence for a while, each mulling over various problems, and enjoying the warm air that was soon going to be vanishing into the depths of winter.

"Is it worth asking about—" Francis began.

"I don't want to talk about it," snapped Gilbert.

Neither Francis nor Antonio pushed him for more information.

.

If Francis really thought about it, his life was probably the easiest out of the three friends. They were all Betas, Gilbert working as a security guard at a nearby concert hall, and Antonio having two part time jobs, one restacking library books, and the other at an inner city greenhouse where he grew vegetables.

Antonio, who'd been obsessed with tomatoes for as long as Francis had known him, had adored his job working with them. On a particular day in the market he had a conversation with a young omega that loved them just as much as he did.

When the mysterious man returned the following week, Antonio learned that his name was Lovino Vargas, and he was about seven years younger than him.

Antonio had only known him for a few weeks before he turned sixteen, and got an apprenticeship at the same store, and it only took about three days of working side by side with the man for Antonio to realize that he had fallen head over heels.

Lovino, to Francis' knowledge, thought of Antonio as nothing more than a friend, meaning that he was just an ass to him as he was to everyone else. Still though, Lovino had a huge temper tantrum when his grandfather caught them in a compromising position, which if you heard the story wasn't actually all that compromising, and forbid him to see Antonio ever again.

Though Francis wasn't sure if Lovino was annoyed at not seeing Antonio, the fight being more about the estranged father figure stepping on the toes of his grandkids than anything else, but fact of the matter was, Lovino still went to the market once a week, which was the only contact he could have with his once best friend.

Francis was mostly just mad at Grandpa Rome for that though, because the two could have been friends, if nothing else.

Gilbert's situation was entirely different and even a bit more difficult. Francis didn't know as much about his story because Gilbert was a closed off individual on the personal things, where comparatively Antonio struggled to keep his emotions hidden.

What Francis did know is that Gilbert had liked this omega when he was younger. Her name was Elizaveta, although she liked to be called Eli and dress up as a boy and play pirates, which Gilbert took to with much amusement.

He also knew that, quite a while later after he'd lost contact with Eliza, he'd met an Alpha who played at the concert hall and was the best piano player he'd ever heard.

Francis didn't know much about Gilbert's relationship with Roderich, but it involved lots of debates and banter, which Gilbert really enjoyed. And apparently he was just starting to get closer to Roderich, when he was re-acquainted with Elisaveta. She was introduced as Roderich's Fiancé.

At least, this is how Francis thinks it happened.

What he does know is that Gilbert is painfully in love with two people who just got married seven months ago. He knows that his best friend is trapped between wanting to pull away from them, and wanting to get as close as possible.

He knows that Gilbert distancing himself is the better choice in the long run, but trying to at least maintain friendship will hurt less.

He also knows that neither Roderich nor Elisaveta seem particularly willing to let Gilbert out of their social circle.

And he knows Gilbert puts up with it, because he doesn't have the strength to deny the two of them anything.

In total, Francis thinks his situation is less painful at least, because he isn't in love. With anyone. Francis hasn't truly fallen in love, ever.

Because unlike his two unfortunate friends, Francis' own sexuality did not sneak up on him. He did not wake up one day to find that his heart suddenly only beat for another, but could never belong to them because it was illegal.

He knew.

He knew about the sexual attraction thing far before he started having crushes on real people.

He knew and took steps to avoid temptation.

Not that he hasn't liked people; like really, really liked people, but he'd never gotten close to them. In some ways it was like falling for someone in a book. You knew everything they said and did, but the texture of their soul was entirely yours to create, and you could mold the character just a bit to make him seem ideal to your needs.

Francis never took the time to really get to know any alphas. Thus he has never been in love.

He has had quite a bit of sex though.

In a panic at the beginning of high school, when Francis took a great deal of time to figure out what his sexuality would mean for his future, he tried to see if he could be satisfied with someone else. Someone beta.

He'd had numerous beta girls give him numbers and he'd ignored all of them, but suddenly it seemed very important that he change himself before it was too late.

He shouldn't have bothered.

It wasn't like the sex was bad. Because most of the time the sex was fantastic.

It was just, he could never manage to make a deeper connection. He tried to date girls, but they just seemed too superfluous or deep and mysterious. He couldn't love them. He cared for them quite a bit, or at least he did for the first ones, but he never found someone he would even be remotely comfortable sharing a bed with every night, never mind a life.

And with every one night stand he had, he just felt like a piece of his soul was slipping away.

He stopped having sex.

His reputation didn't.

In college, where he was an art major until he realized how odd it looked being a beta with an art major, he'd been propositioned by several male betas, and he figured things might go differently then, because at least he'd get to bottom.

It was worse.

It was either light and impersonal, like the number crunching so many betas had to do, or it was a dominance game. It wasn't enough for some of them just to be on top. They wanted Francis to fight back. And still be on top.

It just frustrated Francis to the point of giving up.

It was somewhere around this point that Francis met Gilbert and Antonio. Well, it was the point where they truly became friends.

Francis can still remember that day like it was yesterday.

The air was clear, and the sky was devoid of clouds. Francis had been wandering the halls of his school getting a feel of them in the few days before they all left for summer break. He'd been walking past the locker room, which should have been empty as all the sports teams had winded down a week or two ago.

He'd heard muffled crying.

He could have just walked past and forgotten the incident, but he didn't really have anything to do that day, and he was curious.

The locker room had smelled like sweat and old socks, and the floor was wet because of the ever-leaking showers, but Francis picked his way through it to find Antonio curled in one of the dryer corners. Francis had known vaguely who he was, so he kneeled down and put his hand on the man's shoulder, causing him to jump and glare accusingly.

"Are you okay?" Is what Francis had asked.

"Why, are you going to laugh at me too?" The man had shot back instantly.

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Then why are you here?"

To this day, Francis is still grateful that he had the courage to answer this question honestly.

"Because you look like you need someone."

It was then that Antonio truly broke down in tears, and Francis pulled the man towards him, running calming fingers through his hair. In a halting tone, Antonio slowly told him that a false rumour had spread that he had slept with his beta cousin, as he assured Francis he didn't do, but this brought forth a great reason for all the people on the soccer team, who didn't like him because they thought he was an idiot, to lash out at him.

Somewhere on that line Antonio ended up babbling about the divorce his parents had gone through, and how his dad had turned to alcohol as some form of coping method. He then freaked out because he had just spilled so much personal information, and this was why he didn't really have friends. But Francis just held him and told him to shut up, and then revealed his best kept secret. Antonio's eyes had widened, but his tears stopped, and by the end of it, it was Francis fighting tears, and Antonio just reached out and grabbed his hand.

"It's okay, mi amigo. You won't be alone anymore."

And the two of them sat there in the dingy college locker room and let the hours pass and the world spin around them.

Antonio and him were stuck together like glue after that.

It was the day after Gilbert, who'd overheard the conversation, approached that Francis. Francis had a few days of complete panic where he waited for Gilbert to tell someone about his best kept secret and for him to carted away and put in prison for something he hadn't even done yet.

But it never happened. Instead, Gilbert just started hanging out with them, and three days later ended up punching an alpha in the face for speaking out against Antonio.

Because that was Gilbert for you. As egotistical as the man appeared to be, he was nothing but fiercely loyal for those he cared about.

By the end of that summer, Francis had absolutely no question about where the loyalties of his two best friends lay.

And even though so many friendships fall apart after college when everyone goes their separate ways, the three of them clung to each other, desperate to stand strong against the world.

Despite the fact that, in turn, each of their lives was turning to shit, the three of them had resolved to help each other out in whatever way possible.

It was the only thing they could do.

.

**A/N: I've moved from Venice to Rome. Yay! I get to see pompeii! soon. ish.**

**I have a whole bunch of ideas for this story, so it will get updated at some point, depending on wifi and free time and those various things that get messed up when on vacation.**

**Next chapter you guys will get to meet Arthur.**

**~RosemaryBagels**


	4. Francis, Meet Arthur

**A/N: OMG it's been forever. Please enjoy this chapter beta'd by Sora Resi.**

.

"So, you've heard that the new alpha is showing up today." Michelle was leaning over the half wall that separated Francis' desk from the rest of the office.

"I believe this is the fourth time someone has mentioned that fact to me today." Francis responded.

"Well, have you seen him yet? Or even heard anything?"

"Only that he was taking a tour of the building today," Francis responded noncommittally.

"Well Lili, you know the omega from the archives branch? Well anyways, she's seen him and she says he's like, totally hot." Francis resisted the urge to roll his eyes. That really told him nothing, as any omega who remained unmated for long enough would find any alpha 'totally hot' and Michelle was notorious for spinning things away from the truth.

"Really." Francis tried to keep his voice flat.

"Yeah. And apparently he's unmated." Well this was new.

"Huh. Fascinating." Francis gritted his teeth. His tone wasn't as blank as he wanted it to be.

"Oh play your poker face all you want to, I know you're interested. Anyway, Lili's exact words were 'he's not much on the eyes, but his scent is divine.' I have papers to file, unfortunately, so I can't stick around, but you might actually get to meet him since he's coming around to meet Kiku, so I expect a full report later."

Francis nodded his head slowly, trying to keep the shock of Michelle, once again, being more perceptive than he took her for. Michelle gave him a cheery smile, as if she could read his mind, and then skipped down the hallway.

As much as Francis wanted to assure himself that he was not worth any alpha's time, the brunette omega had a point. It was quite likely that, being head of the engineering branch, the new alpha would want to get to know the engineers. So, it was within reason that Francis, sitting outside of the door to Kiku's office, would get to meet the alpha.

Shit.

Or maybe not, Francis had to remind himself. This alpha was probably some other horrible gambling/drinking/racist or sexist fool that could run a business, but was a very unattractive person and therefore ignorable to Francis' inner instincts.

But, as Gilbert had so helpfully pointed out, this alpha was two years younger than him, not 20+ years older. Was that factor alone enough to change anything?

Probably not. At least, Francis' hoped.

The elevator at the end of the hall dinged, and Francis jerked to attention as five people exited the contraption.

One of the guys on the Board of Directors that Francis doesn't really know the name of and simply refered to him in his head as 'bald patch'. There was a young beta who he vaguely recognized to be Bald Patch's secretary, as well as the much more easily recognized secretary of the Head of the Board of Directors, known for her reign of tyranny and having the nickname of the 'The Dragon'. Trailing behind was a young woman who was obviously new, because she was fumbling with papers and a briefcase while trying to keep up.

And in the middle… was him. Wedged between two secretaries, looking clean-shaven and paying acute attention, was the new alpha.

Arthur Kirkland.

He had pale blonde hair, and a strong composure, blending in seamlessly with the environment around him with a well fitted suit and, Francis checked, designer shoes.

Shit.

Francis scanned the man again, looking for any kind of flaw he could use against his subconscious, his gaze landing on the man's eyebrows. How had he not seen those earlier? In any case, he could not be called handsome because of his eyebrows.

Francis turned his gaze back to his computer, resolving to speak only when spoken to.

"Shit, we're almost late for a meeting," were the first words out of Bald Patch's mouth. "Alright well, Honda's office is just over there, I'm sure his secretary can help you out if you need anything else, we'd best get going." The alpha, his secretary and the Dragon got back on the elevator without waiting for a real response.

The young girl, who was still fumbling with her briefcase, let out a small whimper of panic, as if she couldn't quite find exactly what she was looking for.

"Tina, why don't you just head back to the office?" The blonde alpha suggested to the woman, who looked up with an expression of gratitude, before rushing off down the hallway towards the stairs.

Francis looked up when approached, meeting eyes with the alpha who had a slightly sheepish expression on his face.

"So, I suppose you're the secretary I'm supposed to talk to?" Francis looked down the walkway formed by cubicles on one side, and offices similar to Kiku's on the other. The nearest occupied desk was three down, and the man there was totally absorbed in his game of Tetris.

"Of course, Mr. Kirkland."

"Oh please, call me Arthur." An alpha that liked to be referred to by his first name? Well that was something new. And something that Francis was… reasonably okay with.

"Alright." There was a pause. "I'm Francis Bonnefoy."

"Nice to meet you, Francis." Arthur reached his hand over the small barrier, and Francis met it in a formal handshake. His grip was firm, but not painful, and his scent came with it. Francis clenched his other fist under the table, trying to keep from obviously reacting.

He was unmated. And Lili was spot on. The rich musk with just a touch of pine was absolutely divine. Francis almost wanted to drool.

"So, what do you do around here besides," Arthur leaned over further to see Francis' computer monitor, "play solitaire." Francis gave a light chuckle.

"Not much really. Organize papers. File things. Send emails. Arrange meetings. Book the occasional flight. Fetch coffee." Arthur had a small smile on his face, and Francis felt his heart beat a little bit faster.

"Sounds easy enough."

"Kiku makes it easy for me," Francis responded. "He's mainly self sufficient. Some others in the same profession have to bend over backwards just to make sure their superiors show up to work on time."

"That sounds exhausting."

"It is. I'm lucky."

"Soooo…"

.

"He what?" Gilbert said, sitting on the sofa in Francis' living room.

"He asked me to show him around." Francis responded from the kitchen doorway.

"And you're sure he doesn't like you?"

"It wasn't like that."

"And what was it like?" Gilbert retorted.

"It was," Francis paused to consider his words, "as if he was genuinely interested in getting to know everyone he was going to be working with."

"Isn't that normal?"

"Not at Ahren it isn't."

"Oh. Well clearly my boss is doing everything wrong."

"Either that, or whoever hires people at Ahren likes assholes." Gilbert let out a bark of laughter and Francis smirked into his wine.

"That I would not doubt at all," Gilbert responded. Their conversation was interrupted when Antonio walked through Francis' front door.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." His hair was mussed by the wind, and he had a smile so big Francis could have sworn he was glowing.

"No you're not," Gilbert shot back.

"No I'm really not." Antonio grinned for a moment, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "So, guess what happened today?"

"Given the enthusiasm, I'm assuming that it's got something to with Lovino," Gilbert commented.

"Oh you have no idea. He's just so cute!" Antonio's dreamy face met Gilbert's soft smile, and Francis just had to grin too. It was always nice seeing Antonio's enthusiasm, and for once Gilbert had a smile on his face. As Antonio recited the comings and goings of the day highlighted by a conversation with Lovino and Gilbert added sarcastic comments, Francis allowed the normality of the moment to flow over him and soothe any worries he might have had about the whole alpha-work thing. Whatever happened, he would always have his two loyal friends, and that would be enough for a lifetime.

"Do you guys want chicken or pasta?"

"What?" Gilbert asked.

"Well if you actually wanted to watch Hot Fuzz before going on your shift Gilbert, then I should start on the food now, so chicken or pasta?"

"Oh. Uhh, chicken."

.

Francis arrived at work the next day determined to get some actual work done and not just sit at his desk hoping to see Arthur walk by.

Which was rather difficult, given that Francis didn't really have anything he was supposed to do.

Still, there was a report from the Board of Directors sitting on his desk which he should read over, and even though it was the most boring thing in the world, Francis was determined to glean all the necessary information he possibly could.

Ten minutes later Francis threw down the report in frustration.

Twelve pages of technical jargon saying nothing but 'we really aren't changing anything' wasn't worth reading.

Three spam emails and two abandoned games of solitaire later, Francis got up to get a cup of coffee.

Francis had his back turned, working on getting the correct ratio of instant coffee mix to slightly warmer than tepid water so that the beverage would be drinkable when the footsteps approached.

"Francis?" The man in question turned to see Arthur in the doorway to the coffee room. "It is Francis, right?" Francis nodded and smiled, not sure what else to say.

"Oh thank god. I was worried that I called you by the wrong name and that things would be unbelievably awkward."

Francis was struck by the casual tone of that statement. Was this guy seriously not going to use his position of power as an excuse to act like an asshole to everyone? Arthur wandered into the room, grabbing the almost unused box of tea from the back of the cupboard. Francis noted that the alpha had a copy of hamlet under his arm.

"Do you like Shakespeare?" Francis asked, gesturing to the book under Arthur's arm. Arthur smiled.

"It's an old favourite of mine. I found it unpacking some of the boxes from London and thought it worth a re-read."

"I always preferred his sonnets to his plays." Francis commented idly.

"I thought the same until I actually saw one of his plays on stage." There was a moment of silence and then the kettle dinged signalling that even though the water was nowhere near boiled, the machine was not getting any warmer. Arthur poured some into his mug with teabag before handing it to Francis who poured it into coffee machine.

"Are you almost moved in then?" Francis asked, to break the silence.

"Ph, not at all. I don't even know where the nearest grocery store is." Francis bit his lip. What was the correct response to this? The alpha grabbed his tea and headed to the door.

"Arthur?" Francis' voice was faint but Arthur stalled in the doorway anyway.

"Where do you live? I mean, what neighbourhood do you live in."

"Newcastle. Over by the movie theatre. Why?" Francis wracked his brains for his internal map of the city.

"The nearest grocery store is about four block away on the corner of Westborough and Seventh. But there is a farmers' market that sells fresh and local stuff about twelve blocks further, if you're up for a hike." Arthur got a strange look in his eyes, then broke into a smile that made Francis' heart beat just a little bit faster.

"Thanks," he said. And then he was gone.

Francis stayed in the coffee room for several minutes, making sure his breathing was under control, before heading back out into the busy world of the office and reality.

.

**A/N: I know it's been forever, but I finally have a new chapter. For once I didn't open my word documents and stare at them in horror because I didn't know what to write.**

**If you are waiting for the next chapter of The Demon Who Lives Upstairs... you'll have to wait a bit longer. My muse is absolutely dead. I'm not giving up on it, but it will be a while.**

**I'm also working on an Avengers/Hetalia crossover fic called Tri Alliance, that I'm really proud of. Go check it out if it sounds interesting, it's on my profile.**

******So... people who review get cookies. And encourage me to write more.**

**~RosemaryBagels**


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